12/06/2007

12/05/2007

Today's painting: giant anteater, soft pastels on canson paper. For this one I tried something new; instead of sketching first, I laid out a background tone, paused a film on a shot of the anteater's body (it doesn't even show the head or feet, so I didn't really copy it, just used as reference for the locations of color on the body) and dived into color! It was really fun, quick and I'm happy with the outcome. I ought to do this more often.

11/28/2007

11/27/2007

Pastel on canson paper. I was pleased with this until I looked at it next to everything else I've done. I think the background is too busy; tomorrow I'll probably put it back on the easel, wipe out the trees and go with a more subtle background. More bold statement of shape like appeared in the first stage:

11/23/2007

I worked yesterday's sketch into a painting. Pastels on wallis sandpaper. The tooth grips the pigment so well, it turns out creamy textured. It was delightful to work with. No more strathmore or canson for me!

11/22/2007

This is my favorite of the sketches done from tv nature programs the other day. Lively, vibrant and full of information that just flew onto the paper. I want to paint like this- bold, loose and vividly... it would be a total change in style & direction, but maybe that's what I need to get started again.

11/14/2007

Well it has been a long time. Between the kennel job (gone now) and a busy three-year-old, my time spent on art just fizzled for a while there. A while too long. Tonight I spent a good amount of time just looking at art online, going through links and browsing blogs to get some inspiration. Somehow, looking at art makes me feel like creating art again. I promise tomorrow I will draw something. And no longer be as slow to pick up a pencil (thus the two turtles I sketched who knows when months ago). See you again soon!

5/16/2007

5/14/2007

Basset Hound unhappy in the bath tub at the kennel where I work. Receiving a special shampoo that had to soak in for ten minutes, during which I had to sit with him and make sure he didn't jump out, so I drew his picture. Ballpoint pen, 8 x 10".

4/06/2007

Once I had some oil pastels. I experimented with them a bit, but never grew to like them. So when my toddler wanted to use "mommy's crayons" instead of giving her my nice soft pastels, I let her use the oil ones. They make much richer, brighter, bolder colors on concrete than regular sidewalk chalks. I didn't give them to her very often, since the colors plastered her hands as well, and I got concerned about toxic hazards. But her scrawls lasted on the patio and sidewalks outside our Petaluma apartment for many weeks until rain melted them. Even then you could still make out something. Here's a cat I drew for her at the top of some steps once. Oil pastel on concrete, a few feet in dimensions.

3/18/2007

Figure drawing from an early life drawing class; charcoal on recycled paper, 18 x 24".

I have really been feeling the itch to paint again lately, but it seems so impractical right now and is difficult for me to get into the mood and carve the time out of my day. Since I've been working at my new part-time job, it's been difficult to rearrange the way I use time. My daughter demands more attention the hours we are together, and all the usual maintenance, chores and daily tasks of keeping a home neat have to be compressed into less time. I've found myself letting some housework details slide, and when I do have a half hour to myself, it seems so much easier to pick up my latest library book or to sit down and watch a nature show I recorded on the DVR a week ago, than to pull out my art materials and arrange my work area, my thoughts and my mindset into painting.

I do finally have a corner set aside to work in after re-arranging the bedroom, but somehow it has attracted the presence of an air humidifier, a stack of boxes containing I don't know what, and a pile of my husband's clothing. The easel remains in the closet. I am just too tired right now. I am beginning to think that in order to start painting again on a regular basis, I may have to leave the job behind (or find one with a shorter commute!)

So that is why for the time being, posts on here are rather sporadic and contain art I created months if not years ago. I am trying to keep up with it, but have not been making much new work lately.

2/14/2007

2/11/2007

Portrait of an american pit bull I drew for a customer. Graphite on bristol board, 8 x 10". Now that I look at it fresh eyes after several months, I regret how I cropped the dog's elbows. His posture with head between his paws was so endearing.

2/10/2007

A study I did in school of a self-portrait of Peter Paul Reubens. The original was in oil, I reproduced it on cotton rag paper with soft pastel in many layers. My intent was to learn more about the amazing variety of color in the skin in his painting. The camera failed to capture all the subtle green and blue hues in this face. 20 x 30"

2/08/2007

2/05/2007

This pen and ink montage illustration represents my years at junior college, where I began my formal art training. At Ricks College (in Rexburg, Idaho) the Jacob Spori building was the art department, where I spent most of my time. The other objects and animals in this picture are symbolic of the instructors I studied under who had the most influence on me.

The Spori building was the oldest building on campus, built with stone from a local quarry in 1890. This picture has a particular nostalgia for me because the year after I graduated, the building was torn down for rebuilding. It caught fire and burned down during deomlition. The new building has a similar character to the old Spori building, but it will never be the same for me.

1/31/2007

Even though this still life is fairly simple, it has always been one of my favorites. It used to hang in a light wooden frame (that matched the bowl here) in my kitchen, and I couldn't keep from pausing to look at it. Oil on canvas board, 11 x 14".